With COVID spike, proposal to set up female foeticide task force remains on paper

A fortnight after Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao announced that the government will set up a State level PCPNDT Task Force to curb female foeticide, the proposal is still on paper. The Bengaluru police in November last year unearthed a prenatal sex determination racket across Bengaluru, Mandya and Mysuru districts.

They arrested a doctor and his lab technician who allegedly performed around 900 illegal abortions in the last three years. Following this, the State government has ordered a CID probe into the matter. The Minister had announced on the floor of the Legislative Council during the Belagavi session that the government will take several measures, including setting up of task forces at the State and district levels at the earliest, to curb female foeticide.

“These task forces will not only conduct surprise inspections and raids on hospitals and health institutions, but also gather intelligence from the ground. They will have the power to arrest wrong doers and initiate criminal action against them,” he had said. “Apart from medical experts, these task forces will have an officer of the cadre of Deputy SP or Assistant Commissioner of Police.

The Health Department will work in coordination with the Police Department to get police officers included in the task forces,” the Minister said. Focus on COVID However, subsequently the State started witnessing a spike in COVID cases caused by the new JN.1 variant. And, the focus shifted towards COVID management.

Admitting there was a delay, Mr. Dinesh Gundu Rao told The Hindu that a meeting has been scheduled on January 4 to discuss the subject and take a final call. “As our focus shifted towards COVID control and management, this proposal has been slightly delayed. It will now be done following the January 4 meeting,” he said.

Under process State Health Commissioner Randeep D. said that the process of setting up the task force had begun. “A decision to set up a State level task force under the Health Commissioner and State Mission Director, National Health Mission apart from district Task Forces under the Deputy Commissioners and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) has been proposed in the recent State PCPNDT Supervisory Board’s meeting,” he said.

“There have been discussions on constituent members, role of the State level Task Force Vis a Vis the State Appropriate Authority, State Inspection and Monitoring Committee and State Advisory Authority. It will soon be constituted with the government’s approval,” the Commissioner said. Regular inspections continue Meanwhile, health officials said they are continuing their regular inspections on health institutions and scanning centres to check any malpractices.

Vivek Dorai, State Deputy Director (Medical Acts) said there has been no major case reported after the raid on a hospital and diagnostic centre in Hoskote taluk on December 14. The hospital was sealed after a female foetus was found in a dustbin during a surprise raid. “However, we are regularly inspecting health institutions across the State to curb sex selective eliminations,” he added.

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